WOW Jen, Sculpting is fun and you have done an excellent job with the turtle, I'm still into the Cosmos, it lets your imagination take control of your creative thoughts instead of what you see, I don't know if that makes any sense but anyway

Jen ~ Good job on the turtle. About how big is it? I have a turtle that came from Arizona that I drag out every Spring & sit next to the fountain. After 25 years, it lost a foot :( . Will your turtle be living in the garden?

Karen and Nealey thanks. I am not sure of the exact size but approx. 9 inches long by about 6 inches wide and 4 inches high if you include his head. That is just a guess I will measure when I go to the studio. I started a mushroom and will add my "changed" version of the stone angel!

He is hollow. I build my creations around a ball of newspaper. I then either take it out when it's dry or let it burn off in the kiln. The legs are hollowed out and his neck has a thin stick through it which will also burn out. The aim is to make sure the clay is no thicker than 1/4 to 1/2" thick. The hot gasses need a place to go so if there are air holes it won't break the clay as it is fired. At least that is the hope. I try and make sure there are no air pockets too or the same thing will happen! He is heavy at the moment because he is wet.

By the way Nealey if you get some silicone adhesive you can glue your turtle's leg back on . Silicone will expand and contract so works better outside. Let it cure for about 24 hours. We found it works quit well. You will see the join but it should stay on. Make sure both ends you glue are clean and dry. I also spray my outside critters with a couple of coats of clear acrylic. I leave them out year round and they do fine but we did bring the ones under the roof in this year as we were worried the ice and huge icicles would hurt them. I left the ones around the mail box and they did fine.